A little bio from her proud & supportive mother-

 

Morgan is a 16 year old girl who has loved sports from a young age. She was born with torticollis and then developed scoliosis in her pre-teen years, both of which presented physical challenges that  she had  to work hard to overcome. She started playing basketball and softball when she was about age six. Her love for both sports allowed her to compete in travel softball and local competitive basketball until she was about 13. At the beginning of her 7th grade year (age 13,) she decided to play junior high golf at Wallenpaupack Area Middle School, located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. She enjoyed this introduction to the game, but it was a short season with no actual matches or competitions outside of her own team. Unfortunately, like many other athletes, Covid Pandemic impacted her basketball dreams, thus causing her to miss out on her 7th grade year of competing. However, her love for warmer weather and ocean scenery presented an opportunity that allowed her and her family to move to a small beach town outside of Wilmington, NC.
 

Her love for golf started to peak interest in her final middle school year. At this point, she then decided she wanted to learn more about golf and start taking lessons so she could try out for the high school girl's golf team at Topsail High School in the fall of 2021. It was in the spring when she began taking private lessons to learn about the Game, and still to this day, she is coached by the same private coach who she started off with in the 8th grade! What a dream it is to be coached by someone who watches you grow each year and make total leaps and bounds! 

 

She was fortunate to make the high school girls golf team and as a freshman, she played in approximately 70% of the team's matches that year. Due to her average, she unfortunately was not one of the top five players to compete in the conference championships, last fall. Very disappointed, Morgan also realized how little experience she had and how hard she was going to have to work to catch up and compete with girls that had been playing competitively for many more years than her. It was at that point that Morgan chose to put in those long hours and focus on her golf game. And, like many dedicated athletes know, there were tears and frustration along the way, but also improving skill and building confidence.

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Fast forward to the fall of 2022....Morgan just completed her sophomore year as one of the captains for the Topsail girls golf team. She qualified for regionals after just four matches this year. She also earned her way to playing the #2 positions on her team this entire season.  Her top five nine hole score average improved from 58 to 44 this season. Her team finished 2nd in the conference (out of 8 teams), behind an extremely talented Hoggard team. At the regional tournament on October 18th, Morgan scored an 87 to earn herself a trip to Pinehurst for the NCHSAA 4A Girls Golf State Championships. Not only did she qualify as an individual, but 2 other teammates also qualified, which allowed them to also represent Topsail High School at the State Championships this year. This was the first time THS qualified as a team since moving up to 4A. 

 

Morgan is not only focused on her golf game, she is also an amazing student. She has worked hard to maintain all A’s in her classes and as a sophomore in high school, she is already taking AP classes! Challenging herself to be at her best level of performance both in her athletic game, she is also challenging herself in her academic game! Morgan was 1 of 2 high school students chosen out of all Pender County schools to attend a 3 day/2 night leadership seminar, where she has been able to employ her leadership qualities in all areas of her life. Morgan has shown a lot of interest in helping out her community by volunteering for community fundraising events like helping raise money for our local children's camp for mentally/physically challenged children. She has also done amazing work like writing a grant for her bell choir (and was awarded the full amount to be the first ever bell choir festival)! Morgan is also a volunteer in the Student to Student club at her high school, where she will be applying to be a student tutor in the spring semester (2023). As she moves forward in her academic career, she has goals to pursue an engineering degree in college.
 

Morgan is already working on setting new goals for next season and realizes just how much she still needs to learn about this humbling sport of golf. She is thankful for what this sport has already given her, as well as for the talented and caring professionals that are helping her improve her skills, both mentally and physically. Thank you, Kirk Baker and Cheryl McCormick for all you have done, as well as her high school coaches, Ellen Womble and Scott Garrett for continuing to foster the game that Morgan loves so much.